New personal record! 

Time	2:06:47

It's official, I've ran my fastest half marathon ever, yeah!!!  My sister was a great motivator, she is so speedy!  The Monster Dash in St Paul was a blast.  We left my home at 5 a.m. on Saturday and made a quick stop at Wal-Mart on our way to pick up supplies to make handcuffs.  Our timing was going perfectly and according to our GPS we would be there at about 7:30 a.m. which would have been perfect.  We were within ten miles of our exit for the run when the traffic came to a screeching halt.  We literally crawled along in traffic for an hour!!!  As we approached the off ramp, people were getting out of their cars and running towards the St. Paul Cathedral.  Our GPS was telling us to turn right towards the ramps for parking, but we decided to take the unoccupied left lane to a Sears parking lot and run for it.  We were about 10 minutes late, made a quick stop at the portapotties and ran for the start.  Overall we were about 15-20 minutes late on the start, but thanks to the timing chip and the crowd of 10,000+ runners, we were not at the very end!  We saw so many great costumes, even Obama and Romney ran together!  My favorite were the two people that ran as aerobics instructors with the thong leotards, too funny!  Cheyenne and I were the two cutest prisoners and got lots of compliments on our sparkly tutu's!  We were both quite concerned about the weather, but the coolness actually worked out perfectly.  We were able to leave behind our hats and gloves in the car and didn't have to bring with our zip up sweatshirts at all.  However, as soon as we crossed the finish line the chills set in very quickly!  At the last mile Cheyenne ran ahead, but didn't see me cross the finish line about a minute behind her. so we got lost in the shuffle of people everywhere and it took us 40 minutes to find each other.  We must have been circling each other because when we finally found each other we talked about different people we had seen and we had watched the same person throw up when they crossed the finish line.  That's okay though, it gave us something to remember.  I am so thankful that my sister went on this endeavor with me and is looking forward to doing another one in the future!

The truth is not sweet!

I did a bit of research this morning about sugar.  I've heard that sugar intake should be limited when dieting, but what exactly does that mean?  It means that we can have foods that normally contain sugar such as fruit without being overly concerned, but what I need to pay attention to is the added sugar that I put in things.  Tragically what this means is that I need to SERIOUSLY cut back on my coffee creamer addiction.  Ugh, I am not even sure how to address this.  I must have french vanilla in my coffee! 

I've discovered that I should only have about 25 grams of added sugar a day.  This is going to take some serious work.  I am going to try to reduce my intake first before cutting all the way back to 25.  I will do this in a three week phase.  I first need to analyze what I take in on an average day which can be calculated by my food diary.  Then I will try to reduce this by thirds until I reach my goal.  This has worked best for me so far, to take a measured approach to my goals and not just stop cold turkey.

Ugh, this makes me sad:(

Sunday is Fun Day!!!

What a nice day!  I sure hope this lasts, at least until next weekend for sure!!!  This morning I went out grouse hunting with Kurt and the boys.  Don't worry, I was shooting with a Canon Rebel T3i so nobody was injured;)  I was able to watch Ethan shoot a grouse, that boy has cat like reflexes!  I got some nice pictures of the boys out in the wilderness.

This afternoon Cheyenne and I will be going on our last long training run before the race next Saturday.  We will be running between 7-10 miles depending on which route we choose.  I looked up the weather for next weekend and it does NOT look good.  The high is 41, brrrrr!!!  I hope they are wrong, they never know this far out.

Tomorrow will be a nice long workout at the YMCA for Tanya and I.  We will be doing a full round of weights and then a Zumba class.

Have a great last day of the week and get out there and move!!!

Another day in the life of...

Things continue to be busy as usual.  My diet is going well, only down about 1/2 a pound this week though.  I am not concerned, my clothes continue to fit looser and my muscles seem stronger, so all is good!  The half marathon for me and my sister is next weekend already!!!  I am super excited, our costumes look fabulous and I do believe it should be my fastest one ever.  With lifting weights, taking fitness classes and running, my legs are really strong and my body doesn't feel fatigued after doing long runs. 

I've read some interesting information this week and thought I would share some bits of it.

Reason to Eat Veggies:

Ask my mom—I didn’t eat veggies until I was a grown woman. I still have to force myself to eat a few of them, like broccoli. But nothing is more important to your overall health than the vitamins and nutrients found in vegetables. They help your body function in endless ways, and can even reduce your risk of cancer by activating cancer-fighting enzymes [5] [6]. With the right cooking method, herbs and spices, or even in a smoothie, you can make veggies taste really delicious. To transition into eating more vegetables, try replacing an unhealthy side dish that you normally eat with veggies at one meal per day, and slowly increase until you’re getting 4-5 servings per day.

Become Accountable:

A mental shift needs to happen when you start to take control of your health, and part of that is becoming accountable to yourself. This can be through keeping a food journal, wearing a calorie-tracking armband, using a calorie counting and exercise application on your phone or computer, or even wearing a pedometer to count your steps. Keeping track of what you eat and how much you move will be a very eye-opening experience. Studies show that most adults overestimate the amount of healthy food they are eating and underestimate the rest of it…not because they are trying to be dishonest necessarily, they just don’t have an accurate idea of what they are eating unless they actually record it and measure it out [7].

Do Research:

You might try watching documentaries about food and nutrition (I recommend Food, Inc. and Forks Over Knives). You can also read books, ask a fitness expert or trainer, or just start here at Coach Calorie by downloading the free e-book and read just about everything you need to know.

These are all from Coach Calorie which is a great diet resource on Facebook

The research part has been a huge help for me.  The more I learn, the more I get motivated to make changes in my life.  I've watched both of those documentaries more than once and would recommend them to anyone.  Great info!

~Jessica

This is my new motto.  There is no way to get foxy and super fit without sweating like a pig.  Seriously.  So, just get over your sweaty self and embrace the sweat and stank of looking sexy!  I've been slacking on my blogger ways, so let me give an update on what I've been up to. 

Last weekend I sat down and completed all of my homework and quizzes for my Medical and Health Terminology class.  I am now finished with that one with a solid A.  I officially submitted my withdrawal paperwork to the college for my Applied Research Methods class.  It's disappointing to drop a class but after looking ahead at what the research projects were, I don't feel I had enough time to do them successfully.  I will have to take them (and pay for them) at a later time.  I continue to do well in my other classes, so I will continue with those.

I've been helping my girlfriend lose weight and get in shape.  She is doing WONDERFUL.  Down six pounds in two weeks!  I've been monitoring what she eats online and doing workouts with her and encouraging her to work out at home too.  My mom also wants this service now so she is tracking all of her meals so that I can view them and I am giving her workout ideas since she is unable to accompany us to the YMCA. 

The half marathon with my sister is getting closer, yeah!  We made our running tutu's and are gathering additional things to wear with our prisoner getup.  We are going to "chain" ourselves together too so we need to work on making a rope chain that connects us together.

Life is crazy busy, but good.  I wouldn't have it any other way!

Jessica
 

A day in the life...

Life is crazy, life is fun, life is well, you know!

Things have been crazy as usual for me.  Work, school, kids school, working out, home life, etc.  Still trying to just maintain the peace.  I've been working out with Tanya, trying to help her get started on her weight loss journey.  We made it to the gym three times last week, which I believe is a success.  It is hard when you have family and work and a busy life.  I've been stressing the importance of the food journal.  This is the true key to any weight loss plan.  You must be consciously aware of what you are eating and drinking ALL THE TIME.  It is so easy to consume too many calories by sneaking a bite off of your kids plate or having a quick snack while sitting at your desk.  Scribble while you nibble!

I am feeling the effects of lifting weights a couple of times last week and I am loving it!  My muscles feel tighter and I love the feeling of knowing that I am working my muscles.  I was disappointed that my sister didn't make it over last night to do a long run.  Now I need to try to squeeze one in this week to make up for not having one over the weekend. 

I am off to the gym in a couple of hours.  Tanya's official one week weigh in is tonight and I am excited to see if there was a change!

Have a great night!